Safety in downtown Windsor has been a hot topic for a number of weeks, and the acting chief of police says they've heard the concerns from residents and business owners who don't feel safe and are frustrated by crime.
In response to the concerns over recent violence in the downtown core, at Thursday's Windsor Police Services board meeting officials shared some of their ongoing efforts to deter, de-escalate and disrupt crime in the city centre.
Jason Bellaire says they're trying to take a community focused approach, with a multi-pronged strategy that combines modern law enforcement techniques with innovative approaches to address mental health challenges.
He says while police believe downtown remains safe and welcoming, they acknowledge the concerns being raised.
"We want people to feel safe, not just sit down and show them the numbers. But we do as a responsible organization use data to drive our decisions, our deployments and what we're doing. We're certainly not discounting what residents feel. I think it's also important to note that the particular services, the supports and wrap around services, are centered in the downtown area," he said.
Following higher-than-normal levels of violence earlier this moth, the Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) Unit was deployed to the downtown area.
Officials say the team made an immediate impact, arresting eight suspects on September 8, and led to another arrest on Wednesday.
Bellaire says the issues facing police in regards to homelessness and mental health and addictions cannot be solved solely through increased police presence.
"We don't want to increase interactions with people who are struggling with disorders, and statistically increase the probability that there's going to be a violent interaction which we've seen. We've had some terrible incidents in the last four years and we don't want to keep re-living that. I think if there's one thing we've learned as a community it's that other agencies have to contribute to this issue."
Bellaire highlighted a pair of partnership's with Hôtel-Dieu Grace that have been making a positive impact in the downtown as well, the Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) and the Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT).
He says police have been meeting with community partners with the goal of developing more robust, cross-organizational solutions to address the underlying social issues.
Bellaire feels in the future there will be some real progress and traction on making positive changes.
"In the immediate moment right now I am still waiting for other agencies to maybe pivot or change how they determine they want to provide solutions to these issues," he continued. "But in the future, we're talking months and years, I think things will be better. With time and with some effort it will get better."
Bellaire says in the interim they're exploring the possibility of adding patrols to the downtown area, as well as deploying more officers on foot to increase their street-level presence.
Additional officers would enable police to work more closely with residents and business owners to identify and address their growing concerns, but Bellaire maintains that the police alone cannot solve this problem.